Method of Making an Integrated Circuit Including Simplifying Metal Shapes

1. A method of making an integrated circuit including simplifying metal shapes, the method comprising: receiving, with a processor, an initial wire layout for at least one metal layer of an integrated circuit, the initial wire layout for the at least one layer including a plurality of wires running in a preferred direction and a plurality of vias connected thereto; segmenting, with the processor, each of the wires into a plurality of bricks according to a set of equally spaced parallel grid lines extending in direction which is perpendicular to the preferred direction such that each wire comprises a series of consecutive bricks with brick boundaries between consecutive bricks occurring at a grid line; defining, with the processor, each brick as a regular or a complex brick based on at least one brick criteria; and defining, with the processor, brick groups such that each group contains one or more consecutive bricks of a same wire and each brick belongs to only one group so that each wire comprises a series of one or more consecutive groups, wherein groups containing at least one complex brick are defined as complex groups.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one brick criteria comprises a shape of a bricks, wherein a bricks having a non-rectangular shape is defined as a complex bricks.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the grid lines are spaced at a multiple of a minimum wire width required by design rules applied to the wiring layout.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining a brick group includes evaluating a position of a brick boundary relative to a via hole such that if a brick boundary is less than a desired distance from a via hole, the bricks forming the brick boundary are assigned to a same group.

5. The method of claim 1 , including: defining one or more consecutive complex groups of a same wire as a complex series, wherein each complex series contains one or more complex groups and each complex group belongs to only one complex; and providing a candidate replacement shape for each complex group of each complex series, wherein each candidate replacement shape comprises a rectangle having a dimension in the preferred direction equal to the sum of the dimensions in the preferred direction of each brick of the corresponding complex group and a dimension perpendicular to the preferred direction equal to a lateral dimension of the wire of which the corresponding complex group is a part.

6. The method of claim 5 , including: defining portions of a wire connected to each end of a complex series as first and second terminals; determining for each complex series whether a feasible path exists for connecting the one or more candidate replacement shapes for the one or more complex groups of the complex series to form a path between the first and second terminals at each end of the complex series; and replacing a complex series with the one or more corresponding candidate replacement shapes when a feasible path exists and retaining the complex series if no feasible path exists.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining for each complex series whether a feasible path exists includes: defining a feasibility interval in a direction perpendicular to the preferred direction for the candidate replacement shape of each complex group of the complex series; defining feasibility intervals in a direction perpendicular to the preferred direction for connector wires which may be required to connect the one or more candidate replacement shapes of the complex series to one another and to the first and second terminals; and performing a tree search to determine whether the first and second terminals can be linked via the feasibility intervals.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein replacing a complex series with the one or more corresponding candidate replacement shapes when a feasible path exists includes: locating each candidate replacement shape at a position perpendicular to the preferred direction within the corresponding feasibility interval based on one or more path criteria.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more path criteria include minimizing a number of connector wires required for the feasible path and optimizing spacing of candidate replacement shapes and connector wires from neighboring structures of the wire layout.